Garment stay



J. G HUYE GARMENT STAY Dec. 30, 1941.

' Filed July 23 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r V fi Dec. 30, 1941.

Filed July 23, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 30, 1941 2,268,151 GARMENT STAY Joseph G. Huye, New Orleans, La.

Application July 23,

5 Claims.

This invention relates to garment stays, and

particularly to garment stays which are adapted for use in storing and shipping garments.

Generally, in the clothes or suit manufacturing industry the clothes, after being manufactured, are stored on expensive wooden or wire garment hangers and thereafter have to be conveyed to the packing department on these hangers. When these clothes are received in the packing department the hangers are removed and the garments or suits are then rearranged on pasteboard forms or stays. The suits on these pasteboard forms are then packed in boxes for shipping and the aforementioned metal or wooden hangers must be packed and returned to the different manufacturing departments. After the suits are thus packed the containers are generally strapped closed with metal strapping which serves to crush both the garments or suits and the hangers on which they are draped and form a rumpled bundle of clothing.

The present invention has been developed with the foregoing considerations inview and has for its primary objects, to provide a clothes stay on which. a garment or garments can be properly draped and stored and thereafter packed for shipping while preserving the original pressing of said garment or garments; to provide such a stay which, when used for packing garments in a container, bears against the sides and/or ends thereof to reinforce the same and prevent relative sidewise and endwise movement of said garments in said container; to provide in such a stay resilient means for supporting a garment and in packed condition resiliently pressing against the adjacent garments or container to prevent crushing of said garments and prevent up and down movement of said garments in said container; to provide in such a stay an integral supporting hook that can be folded resiliently down to resiliently support the collar lapels of a garment during the use of the stay for packing garments in a container; and, to provide such a stay which can be easily and cheaply manufactured in bulk of cardboard or paper board or other suitable cheap stimy resilient sheet material, is of comparatively light weight, and may be packed andshippedin flat condition.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective "exploded view showing a preferred form of stay having a suit disposed thereon preparatory to being packed in a container along with a number of other such stays and suits;

Figure 2, a top plan view of the stay;

1938, Serial No. 220,955

Figure 3, a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4, a perspective View of the device in 7 use as a garment hanger; 5 Figure 5, a section on the line 5 5 of Figure 4 looking in the direction of the arrows; and, Figure 6, a perspective view of a modification of the invention as suit.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the letter A designates a cardboard or other well known form of packing box or container such as is generally used for packing and shipping garments, said container Ajbeing formed with the w'usual side walls consisting of sides Dand ends Eand being provided with a top B.

The stay of the present invention in its preferred form consists of a main section or sheet l of stiflly resilient substantially rigid sheet ma- ZO teriaI, such as cardboard or pasteboard, formed with a neck portion waist or body portion 4, to receive and support portions of a garment, pref- The laterally opposed edges or extremities or projections 6 and 1 of said shoulder portions 3 and bottom 5 are preferably straight and in longitudinal alignment on each side of said stay section I and the distance between said edges 6 is preferably equal to the distance between said edges 1 so that the stay may be conveniently fitted into the rectangular container A with said edges 6 and 1 bearing against the opposed sides D thereof to reinforce the same and prevent relative sidewise movement of said stay therein.

Also, the bottomedge 8 of said section I is preferably parallel to the top edge 9 of neck 2, and said edges 8 and 9 extend in a direction perpendicular to egdes 6 and 1 respectively so that said edges 8 and 9 may, when placed in rectangu 45.,lar container A, eiiiciently engage and bear against the respective ends thereof to reinforce the same and prevent relative endwise movement of said stay therein.

It is to be noted, of course that the maximum 50,1ength and width of stay section l are slightly less than the corresponding dimensionsof container A so as to be easily inserted in and removed therefrom, and to allow for the space taken by the garment or coat 0, a portion of which when sa packed lies or is disposed between edges 6 of used for packing a single 2, shoulder portions land a said slot shoulder portions 3 and the respective side walls or sides D of the container. I

In order to provide a rounded resilient bearing surface on which the garment shoulders might rest, each of shoulder portions 3 is provided at its upper edge with an integral resiliently foldable flap Ill, which in operation is to be folded down over the front of its respective shoulder portion 3 prior to draping a garment on the stay. Said flaps I may be either fastened down near one end, as by a staple or clip ll, shown in Figure 2, or left loose to be held down by the Weight of the garment C when applied and form a somewhat more resilient support for said garment C, as also shown in Figure 2.

In order to allow for convenient adjusting of the back of coat or garment C during packing operations after said garment and supporting stay have been placed front up in a container A, as shown in Figure 1, it is desirable to form an indentation or slot l2 at the bottom of stay 1. Such a slot l2 also serves to reduce the weight of the stay without materially affecting its strength or rigidity and in addition provides a convenient hand-hold for removal of said stay and garments C and G disposed thereon from the container A.

In the preferred formv of the invention the neck portion 2 and upper part of shoulder portions 3 are reinforced by an additional thickness of sheet material 43 preferably conforming in shape to said neck and shoulder portions and attached. thereto in registry therewith, by suitable means such as staples II or M, or glue.

It is to be observed that in the preferred embodiment theshoulder flaps H) are folded down over said reinforcing piece or section l3, and if it is desired to fasten themdown a single stap may be. used tofasten each said shoulder flap I 0 and the adjacent portion of reinforcing section E3 in place on main section I, as at I l, or if it is desired toleave the flaps l0 free a clip may be passed through each side of said sections l and It, as at M, to fasten the same together.

In order to provide a hanger or support for trousers or additional garments G, a panel [5 preferably integral with the lower edge of reinforcing section t3 and formed with a laterally extending slot I6 is provided. Panel [5 is adapted to be bent or folded outward away from "the face of main section I, preferably along a crease or score line 28, so that a garment or garments, preferably trousers G, may be folded through It to be supported by-the lower part of panel I15, flat against the adjacent face of main section I, as Figure 5. v

Preferably" integrally attached to and extending the length of the lower edge of slot I6 is a flap lladapted to be folded inward and downward to. form a rounded resilient bearing surface which will support a garment or garments G without cutting into or creasing the same.

In order that the stay may be suspended from a hook-orwire, or a rod 20 as shown in Figures ear-1d 5, to be used as a garment hanger or stock keeping board, it is provided with a folding cardboard or other sheet material hook l8, preferably integral with neck portion 2' and resiliently foldable along a score line l9 to, during the use of the stay in packing operations, allow the edge 9 of neck portion 2 to bear against the adjacent end of container A.

In the embodiment shown the hook I8 is formed of two thicknesses of sheet material one of which is integral with reinforcing piece or section 13.

In the preferred use of the garment stays in clothes manufacturing or wholesaling establishments, the suits or garments C and G are draped and stored on the garment stays, which are suspended by their respective hooks I8 from any suitable supporting means, such as rods 20 shown in Figures 4 and 5, until it is desired to ship them, at which time the stays or garment boards and garments draped thereon will be conveyed to the packing department to be prepared for shipping. Prior to packing the stays and garments the collars F of coats C are turned up as in Figures 1 and 4, and the hooks l8 are bent down to lie beneath the collar lapels or collars F and resiliently support and prevent crushing of the same, as shown in Figure 1. Each garment board is then picked up with a suit or garmentproperly draped around it and placed front up in a container A, said suits being piled one on top of the other until the container A is full. Preferably the suits are placed in alternating positions, as shown in Figure 1, the upper part or collar and shoulders of each garment C resting on the bottom or lower portion of the suit beneath, since the collar and shoulders of coats C and the upper portions of the garment stays are of greater thickness than the bottom or a lower portions thereof, and unless placed in alternatingposition as above, the package becomes of greater thickness at one end than at the other.

From the foregoing description it may readily be seen that when the stay and garments disposed thereon are placed in container A, the shoulder portions 3 with their respective laterally opposed edges 6 and 1 against the container sides D to prevent relative sidewise movement of said stay and container and reinforce said sides D; the edges 8 and 9 of bottom portion 5 and neck'portion 2 respectively bear against the opposed ends E of the container to prevent endwise movement of said stay therein and reinforce said ends E; and the resiliently folded flaps l0, hook l8, and flap IT in conjunction with panel I5, by their tendency to expand or unfold toward the top and bottom of the container A respectively serve to prevent crushing of the garment shoulders and collar, and wrinkling or creasing of the trousers or garment G disposed on panel 15 In addition, said resiliency or expanding tendency serves to maintain the top and bottom garments closely against the container top and bottom respectively to reinforce the same and prevent up and down movement of said suits or gariments in the container or packing box A.

When it is desired to pack an individual suit or garment for shipment the preferred type of garment board or stay may be used in conjunction with a container of such thickness that the top and bottom thereof will bear lightly against the front. and back respectively of the garment,

or if it is desired to use a smaller box or container the modifiedform of stay shown in Figure 6 may be used.

The modification shownin Figurefi is identical with the preferred embodiment except that the bottom portion 5 of the preferred, embodiment is omitted to allow the stay to be fitted or disposed within a shorter container A. In operation the garments C and G are draped on the modified stay of Figure 6 in the usual manner as hereinbefore described, except that those portions hanging below the lower edge of the stay are folded under for packing in container A7,. and the lower edge of said garment board of Figure 6 and bottom portion 5 bear silient bearing bears against the adjacent box end E the fold line of the garments C and G. i

I claim:

1. A garment stay comprising a main section of stifily resilient sheet material formed with integral neck, shoulder and waist portions to receive and support the respective corresponding portions of a garment, a bottom portion, and resiliently downwardly foldable shoulder flaps integral with the upper edges of said shoulder portions to in folded condition form rounded resurfaces for the shoulders of said garment, in combination with a reinforcing section of sheet material attached to the upper part of said main section, a panel integral with the lower edge of said reinforcing section and adapted to be bent away from said main section, said panel being formed with a laterally extending slot, a resiliently downwardly foldable flap integral with said panel at the lower edge of said slot to in folded condition form a rounded resilient garment bearing surface, and a resiliently foldable hook integral with the neck portion of said stay to in folded condition extend beneath and resiliently support the collar of a garment disposed on said stay.

2. A garment stay comprising a main section of stifliy resilient sheet material formed with integral neck, shoulder, and waist portions to receive the corresponding portions of a garment, and a bottom portion, and having resiliently downwardly foldable shoulder flaps integral with the upper parts of saidshoulder portions to in folded condition form a rounded resilient bearing surface for the shoulders of said garment, in combination with a reinforcing section of sheet material conforming in shape to the shoulder and through neck portions of said main body and attached to said main body in registry with said shoulder and neck portions, a panel integral with the lower edge of said reinforcing section and adapted to be bent away from said main section, said panel being formed with a laterally extending slot, a resiliently foldable flap integral with said panel at the lower edge of said slot to in folded condition form a rounded resilient bearing surface over which a garment might be folded to lie flat against theadjacent face of said main section, and, a resiliently foldable hook integral with the neck portion of said stay to in foldedcondition extend beneath and resiliently support the collar of a garment disposed on said stay.

3. A garment stay comprising a main section posed on said stay.

of stifily resilient sheet material formed with integral neck, shoulder and waist portions to receive the corresponding portions of a garment, and having resiliently foldable shoulder flaps integral with the upper parts of said shoulder portions to in folded condition form a rounded resilient bearing surface for the shoulders of said garment, in combination with a panel attached to said main section, said panel being formed with a laterally extending slot, a resiliently foldable flap integral with said panel at the lower edge of said slotto in folded condition form a rounded resilient bearing surface over which a garment might befolded to lie fiat against the adjacent face of said main section, and a resiliently foldable hook integral with the neck portion of said stay to in folded condition extend beneath and resiliently support the collar of a garment dis- 4. A garment stay comprising a main section of stiffiy resilient sheet material formed with integral neck, shoulder and waist portions to receive and support the corresponding portions of a garment, and having foldable shoulder flaps integral with said shoulder portions, in combination with a panel attached to said main section, said panel being formed with a laterally extending slot, a

resiliently foldable flap attached to said panel at the lower edge of said slot to in folded condition form a bearing surface over which a garment might be folded and supported in fiat condition of said main section,

against the adjacent face and a resiliently foldable neck portion of said stay extend beneath and resiliently support the collar of a garment disposed on said stay.

hook mounted on the 5. A garment stay comprising a main section of stiiiiy resilient sheet material formed with integral neck, shoulder and waist portions to receive and support the corresponding portions of a garment, in combination with a panel attached to said main section, said panel being formed with a laterally extending slot, a resiliently foldable flap attached to said panel at the lower edge of said slot to in folded condition form a bearing surface over which a garment might be folded and supported in flat condition against the adjacent face of said main section, and a resiliently foldable hook mounted on the neck portion of said stay to in folded condition extend beneath and resiliently support the collar of a garment disposedon said stay.

JOSEPH G. HUYE.

to in folded condition 

